New This Year

Streamer, Anticlea derivata.  On the wall above my garden light trap in Hayes on 2 May 2016

I've been catching moths in my garden for five years, in a fairly basic light trap, and I still get new species to add to my list.  There were 22 new species this year.  Some of them I had already seen elswehere, but others were completely new to me.  That doesn't mean they are rare!  There are about 2,500 species of moth in the UK and a lot of them, often quite common ones, just don't live near me or only arrive occasionally.

Here are a few of this year's new arrivals.

The Streamer's caterpillars feed on dog-roses and the adult arrives quite early in the year.  I had not seen one of these before.

Light Brocade, Lacanobia w-latinum.  In my garden light trap in Hayes on 13 May 2016.

Light Brocades have turned up a few times in the West Wickham Common trap, about a mile away, but this was the first one in my garden.  Its caterpillars eat broom and related plants, and there's not much of those off the commons.

Esperia sulphurella.  Male.  In my garden light trap in Hayes on 21 May 2016.

The so-called micromoths – and some of them are indeed extremely small, much smaller than this, which has a 15mm wingspan – usually turn up in the middle of the year, so it's nice to see some early on.  I had not seen this Esperia sulphurella before, though it's not rare.  The caterpillars eat dead wood.

Metalampra italica.  In my garden light trap in Hayes on 20 July 2016.

Metalampra italica was first seen in England in 2003, but now seems to have established breeding colonies.  It still arrives as an immigrant, and that's probably how this got into my garden.  This was a nice catch.  It's another micromoth, with a 12mm wingspan.  Again, the caterpillars eat decaying wood.

  Lesser Swallow Prominent, Pheosia gnomaIn my garden light trap in Hayes on 31 August 2016.

I've seen Lesser Swallow Prominents in a number of places, but this was the first to come to my garden trap.  Its caterpillars eat birch, and, like the trees, the moths are common.  They are smart-looking creatures and, despite having "lesser" in their common name, are quite large, with a wingspan up to 50mm.

I'll post some more next time.